The husband of special constable Nisha Patel-Nasri was yesterday found guilty of her murder after a jury found that he had ordered her killing to fund a secret double life.

Fadi Nasri, who went on television in the days after the murder to appeal for information to find his wife's killers, had contracted hitmen to stab her to death at their home in Wembley, north London, while he was out playing snooker. He gave them the keys to the marital home and a knife from his own kitchen before the murder.

Nasri, 34, who ran a limousine business, had arranged the murder so he could continue an affair with a Lithuanian prostitute and pay off £100,000 debts with his wife's life insurance policy, the trial at the Old Bailey heard.

In the days after her death it had been thought Patel-Nasri, 29, had gone outside to investigate a disturbance and was attacked by a stranger apparently trying to break in to her home. Nasri made a televised appeal claiming: "Obviously, someone has got a guilty conscience."

But after months of investigation, detectives became suspicious of Nasri, who stood to benefit from the death of his hairdresser wife, described in court as "bubbly, energetic and hard-working, with many friends".

Patel-Nasri had been preparing for bed on the night she was killed. Earlier in the evening she had cut her brother Katen's hair ahead of his wedding. Hearing someone enter the house, the part-time special constable with the Metropolitan police grabbed a torch and went downstairs.

She was stabbed in the upper groin and suffered a 13cm (5in)-deep incision which punctured her artery. Neighbours found her just before midnight in her driveway, barefoot, in a nightdress and lying in pools of blood and screaming.

She had cried out: "He's following me." Patel-Nasri died in hospital an hour later.

Behind the facade of a happy, loving relationship, the court heard that Patel-Nasri was unhappy with her marriage and had confided in a friend that she wanted a divorce.

Desperate for a baby, she was tired of being left at home on her own while her husband went out at night. She was working seven days a week in her hair salon, Perfections, and had paid a £52,000 deposit on the marital home and given her husband £15,000 to launch his limousine business.

While he drove a Lexus and claimed to be earning more than £150,000 a year, her husband in fact owed six-figure debts. The jury heard he was also "spending money like water" on his mistress, Laura Mockiene, who worked as a prostitute.

"Unknown to all those people who have described them as the happiest people they'd ever seen, Nasri was leading a double life," Michael Worsley QC, prosecuting, told the court.

Patel-Nasri's murder was a cold, pre-meditated affair. Her husband contracted a drug dealer, Rodger Leslie, 38, to arrange the killing, which was carried out by Jason Jones, 36, a powerfully-built doorman. He then made sure his wife was home alone on the night of her death - and that he was out, providing an alibi.

But six weeks after his wife's death Nasri, who formerly ran an escort agency, was finding it hard to conceal his second life. He had secretly begun visiting his mistress again, introducing her to his friends. He cleared his debts and funded holidays in Lithuania, Spain, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. He later moved in with her after selling the marital home for £410,000. Eventually he admitted to the affair.

Six months after his wife's death, the net was closing in: the discovery of the knife in a nearby drain, mobile records that linked the three men, and CCTV footage of a suspected getaway car led detectives to the murderers. When police told Nasri of the arrests of his fellow conspirators, he broke down. He was arrested for her murder in February last year.

It took the jury 26 hours of deliberations to find Nasri, along with Leslie, of Barnet, north London, and Jones, of Manor Park, east London, guilty of murder. A fourth man who stood accused of being the getaway driver, Tony Emmanuel, 42, from East Ham, was found not guilty.

After the verdict Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, praised the special constable for her service. "Her death has been a huge loss to her family, friends and to the Metropolitan police service which she served so enthusiastically."

Outside court her brother, Katen Patel, said: "The attack they carried out on Nisha was barbaric, they showed her no mercy and have shown absolutely no remorse since.

"They have made this experience more agonising by refusing to admit to their crime and dragging my family, friends and I through this trial. It is not a man but a coward who attacks a vulnerable woman with a knife. Nisha never stood a chance, she was alone and defenceless."

He added: "The fact that the man she loved was responsible for this makes it all the more surreal and in the beginning I never imagined that he could be the one behind this wicked murder. There are no words that can describe the pain I suffer in losing my little Nisha, but I will remember her as a strong-minded, determined and generous person who wanted to live life to its fullest."

'A guilty conscience'

What Fadi Nasri said about his murdered wife in the wake of her killing:

"Nisha was extremely hard-working, bubbly and always on the go. No one else could touch her. I was very proud of her and when she said she wanted to [become a special constable] I encouraged her, but I had my worries for her safety. She was proud to wear the uniform. Nisha was always helpful and always so forgiving."May 13 2006

"Obviously someone has got a guilty conscience they shall be worrying about what they have done, or be shocked or maybe it was an accident or mistake, or whatever. We know that someone has to know something who lives around them, a neighbour, or seen some blood, or someone acting suspiciously or nervous. It might not be important, but just give us a call and let us know."May 14

"She was good to everyone, she had a heart of gold. She deserves the best. With all the help she gave the community we are hoping and expecting that the community will do the same back."May 19

Timeline

May 11 2006Nisha Patel-Nasri stabbed to death at her home in Wembley, north London.

May 13 2006Amid speculation she was attacked by a stranger, Patel-Nasri's husband, Fadi Nasri, appeals for information to find her killer.

June 1 2006Three police motorbikes lead a procession of hundreds of mourners during her funeral.

September 12, 2006Police reveal they have discovered a knife from Patel-Nasri's kitchen, believed to be the murder weapon.

December 2006 to January 2007Police arrest Rodger Leslie and Jason Jones and later charge them with murder.

February 27 2007Fadi Nasri is arrested and charged with murder.

May 28 2008Leslie, Jones and Nasri are all found guilty of murder. A fourth man, Tony Emmanuel, is acquitted.